.: The Legend of the Sinukwan Festival

Title*:	The Legend of the Sinukwan Festival
Article*:	The Sinukwan Festival of Pampanga was born from a legend about the story of Mt. Arayat. According to the legend the Arayat used to be the home of a beautiful fairy godmother. Her name is Mariang Sinukwan and aside from being beautiful physically, she was also known to be a kind-hearted person. Once there were long years when the whole of Mt. Arayat was filled with various types of fruits and trees and all kinds of animals. These trees all bore fruits that were so large and bountiful. Out of Mariang Sinukwan's generosity, she would collect all these fruits and animals that were edible to cook and eat and would bring it to the town as charity to the poor and needy people with their families. The needy would as a sign of gratitude in return never to try to visit or wander into Mariang's home in Mt. Arayat. This is so because they believed that it was sacred. The people of Mt. Arayat were contented with what Mariang was giving to them. But as all things do this contentment came to an end. The people began to want more than what they are receiving from Mariang Sinukwan. When they could no longer suppress their feeling of dissatisfaction, a group of young men all agreed to go on a mission to climb Mt. Arayat and get as much as they can from Mariang's collection of animals and fruits. After a long climb they reached the base and saw with amazement fruits that were larger than what is ordinary. There they also saw Mariang Sinukwan and were dumbfounded with her extra ordinary beauty. She told the young men that they could eat as much as they want from the fruits but also warned them not to take anything home without asking for her permission. After that they left them. The men started eating to their heart's contentment until they could not eat any more. When they were done a debate started within the group on whether to bring home more fruits. They all agreed in the end to do so and to not be scared of the fairy godmother. They all packed the sacks they brought with them of fruits and the animals that they could carry. They headed for their homes and started walking. But after a while they began to feel their sacks getting heavier and heavier. It got so heavy that they could no longer carry it. When they looked into the sacks all the fruits and animals had turned into stones. They ran away in fear but met Mariang at the base of the mountain. She was very angry and shouted at them for their greed and ungratefulness. And with a wave of her hand she turned them into swine to punish them. Unfortunately, this did not serve well to warn other people from the dangers of greed. More and more people would try to sneak into Mt. Arayat to steal fruits and animals until Mariang became tired of them and left Mt. Arayat. Her disappearance also brought with it the disappearance of the large fruits and animals.
Category*:	Local News
Source: